MARION JONES by BILL GUTMAN

Author:BILL GUTMAN
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK
Published: 2000-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Becoming Number One

As soon as Marion went into rigorous training in April 1997, she realized there was a great deal of work to be done. Being in great shape for basketball is not the same as being in great shape for sprinting and long jumping. As she said, she could run up and down the basketball court all day without getting tired, but as soon as she began track workouts, she noticed the difference.

“Just running around the track made me use muscles I hadn’t used in four years,” she said.

She also began an intense weight-training program under C.J.’s guidance. She had to get stronger, but also had to lose weight. For basketball, Marion usually weighed about 165 pounds. The weight didn’t affect her court speed and allowed her to better absorb the pounding that goes along with the court game. A finely tuned sprinter, however, simply cannot carry any extra weight. To be at her best on the track, Marion usually weighed between 145 and 150 pounds, so she was still some 20 pounds overweight.

Because of her not-so-amicable parting of the ways with her coaches at North Carolina, Marion and C.J. shifted their workouts to Paul Derr Field, which was located at North Carolina State University. When she decided to go to NC State, Marion didn’t realize that there were already a group of top track performers there, as well as a coach who would help change her life.

His name was Trevor Graham, a native of Jamaica whose family had come to the United States when he was fourteen. Graham became a fine quartermiler who won the NCAA Division II Championship in that event in 1987. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Graham was part of the Jamaican 4 × 400 relay team that won the silver medal, finishing behind a record-setting United States team. He subsequently became an assistant track coach at Kansas State University. Then he set out to learn all he could about the techniques of running, starting with how the body utilizes oxygen— everything that could make a runner improve performance. Gradually, he formulated his own ideas and theories.

By 1991, Graham was working in Raleigh as a security officer while looking for athletes to coach. His wife, Ann, was a ranked 400-meter hurdler who wanted to make the 1992 United States Olympic team. But with a teaching job and a young child at home, she just didn’t have the time to make a full commitment. She got as far as a semifinal before being eliminated. Though disappointed, her husband continued to seek out other athletes. By the time he came to Paul Derr Field, he was working with some dozen or so top runners, including world-class 400-meter star Antonio Pettigrew. His reputation was growing.

Trevor Graham was already somewhat familiar with Marion. He had seen her run while she was at Thousand Oaks, and had watched some of her basketball games on television. He had also met C.J. previously. One day the two men began talking as Marion was working out.

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